URGENT!

Not long ago, I ordered a bulletin board for my office. My husband scrunched up his face. "It's so small," he commented. 

Yes. It's just for urgent things; they'll be right there where I can't miss them. 

It has worked out pretty well. I haven't missed a thing. All the urgent things --the same urgent things --have been hanging there since he mounted the board at the beginning of the summer. The board is doing exactly what it's intended to do, heralding my need for action. I, however, have not done my part.

Our relationship with God can be like that bulletin board. Our Bibles lie untouched on the nightstand. We'll get to Bible study next week. Thanks for the food, Jesus. Amen. or, I really need a job, Jesus. Amen. And we go on about our lives as if we've filled our obligation or will get to it tomorrow. So long as we avert our eyes from the bulletin board, we need not be reminded we haven't really taken care of business. 

Or maybe, our bulletin board is full of conviction, a haunting uneasiness about the terrible lives we are living. This wasn't the way you were raised, it reminds. How did you get this far from who you were? We don't necessarily want to live the way we're living; but we haven't yet partnered with the God who wants to change us. Until we humbly imitate Jesus and determinedly follow the Holy Spirit, until we boldly confront the urgent things staring us in the face, the issues just keep piling up. 

Perhaps your bulletin board is completely empty. I've forged myself a pretty good life so far. I'm not a bad person, I make sure my family's cared for, I've had the same job for twelve years, the mortgage is paid. But take the time, dig around. What sort of things have been hidden or forgotten under all those items you've managed to stay on top of? Maybe there aren't any "urgent" matters to mind or overdue balances, but is there shame? Is there a desire to be defined by what you own? Is there a broken relationship with your siblings you've been pushing to the bottom of the pile? Is your confidence firmly planted in your reputation?

I was raised going to church. My parents had a Good News Club in our home. VBS, Christian school, Christian summer camp, youth group --all these things were a part of my life from the time I can remember. But by the time I was in my twenties, my life looked nothing like that. No church. No interest in memorizing Scripture. Little interest really, in doing the right thing. My Bible and my "Christianity" were nostalgic, things I referenced when trying to appear respectable. Each time I looked up at my "bulletin board" and saw just how much of my life needed to be corrected or at the least, addressed, the task appeared daunting --more like trying to empty a billboard than a bulletin board. There's no way I can get from here to there, I'd reason. And I was absolutely right. But my bulletin board hadn't become full overnight, and to "be a good Christian," I didn't have to change overnight. From the moment I confessed Jesus as my Salvation and my King, I began to look like Him! He gave me His righteousness and a new nature. As long as I remain invested in doing the work, as long as I am committed to growing spiritually each day, tackling those problems on the bulletin board, I will look more and more like Him. You will as well.

If you've not yet considered some things that need a push pin or two, pay attention to the issues or desires that seem to pop up from time to time --the bad habits you always seem to fall back into or the nagging sense something isn't quite right about the way you talk to others. If you seem to have drifted to a place you never thought you'd be or your spirit is at war with who you have become, maybe you need to have a talk with the One who made you and knows exactly where you need to go; He can turn that cluttered, menacing bulletin board into an unambiguous path to Shalom. If you've gotten into the terrible habit of avoiding those things marked URGENT, ask the Holy Spirit to step in, to give you the desire to start decluttering that board. Ask which item you need to tackle first and begin doing the work. Keep your eyes on Jesus and focus your prayers on that one thing. Respond to the call to action. Keep your bulletin board small and your commitment to becoming Christlike King-sized!